The present invention relates, in general, to apparatus for ultrahigh frequency modulation of light, and more particularly, to a self-modulated laser which generates ultrahigh frequency optical modulation through polarization of the laser beam as it circulates in the laser cavity.
Semiconductor lasers are attractive sources of high frequency optical pulses, because of their small size and ease operation. The usual techniques for reliably generating such pulses have included gain switching and active mode locking; however, such direct modulation of these lasers is inadequate for achieving ultra-high frequency modulation because the modulation rate will be fundamentally limited by the relaxation oscillation frequency f.sub.ro of the lasers. Most efforts to extend the frequency response of such optical modulation focus on optimizing the laser parameters which would enhance f.sub.ro, and although such endeavors may yield incremental improvements, less conventional techniques are needed to provide truly improved results that would enable such devices to produce optical pulses having a repetition rate in the range of 100 GHz.